Colossus of Rhodes - Candid tips by authority Howard Hillman

Colossus
of Rhodes

Seven Wonder
insights you can trust

Why the
Colossus of Rhodes
Seven Wonder
is special

It was as tall as a modern 15-story building. This was an amazing architectural feat when this statue-and-pedestal structure was built on the island of Rhodes around 280 BC.

No one today knows for
sure what it looked like
or where it was situated

Yet, I heard a half dozen different answers from local experts while I was in Rhodes.

Questionable concept

The popular notion is that the Colossus of Rhodes straddled the harbor's entrance and ships sailed between its legs (see top picture). I like the concept because it's dramatic. However, it seems unlikely that such a design was used. It would pose unsolvable engineering problems in the 3rd century BC. It would also be economically devastating because it would block Rhodes' thriving commercial harbor during the statue's construction.

More likely ...

The Colossus of Rhodes had a more conventional Greek style pose. And, this Seven Wonder probably stood on land along the harbor shoreline, or slightly
inland overlooking the sea.

Colossus of Rhodes
map location